I was asked at the last moment to fill-in as a guest speaker during a local weekly net last Tuesday night. Which was cool, because we started the net at 7PM, and immediately "broke" to walk outside and watch the ISS streak over Southern California, then resumed my sat talk on the net.

In all the excitement, I forgot that I had taken my Arrow Sat Antenna and attached FT-60R out to the back yard, intending to see if the ISS' packet station was up and running. And after the ISS viewing, I ran to the car to use that rig for the net.

Well, I am sure the whole country now knows that Southern California received massive amounts of RAIN late Tuesday and Wednesday. Some areas received a whopping .25 inch, sending freeway drivers into spinouts and, for me, causing me to bring the cat in the house a little earlier than usual. But what did I see in the back yard as I walked out of the house to feed my burro Wednesday morning? My Arrow and FT-60 - exposed to the elements overnight.

I did what we're NOT supposed to do with wet electronics items: I turned it ON to see if it powered up. It did. I immediately turned it OFF, removed the battery, took it inside and placed it face down on an absorbent towel, and left it alone until last night.

What I expected was water damage to at least the speaker. But there is nothing wrong with the HT. It works perfectly.

It did not get drenched nor submerged in water. But it certainly did get wet. I am pleased.

Clint K6LCS

PS Do not try that at home. Be a little more responsible, and remember where you leave your valued electronics items.

I once managed to leave my Bird Thruline wattmeter out overnight and it rained. No problem, though. However, lemon squash knocked over by the cat and soaking a telephone did it no good at all. (the telephone, that is - the cat didn't care!)

Curious. Was it standing up or lying down? If down, was speaker facing up or down?

If it were facing up, when all the rain happened, I'd probably still remove the "guts" from the front and see if there was still any moisture or residue left on the circuit board. Why? Because over time, corrosion salts may develop and later cause a problem. A wipe off of the traces and SMT components with a que-tip would help prevent that.

you can also put it In a box of rice to soak up moisture, O one trick I use after thoroughly drying off what I can reach, is to put the parts on top of a radio or power supply that is on. the constant low heat fro the gear slowly drys out the inners.

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